The short version: Both platforms have real gamification, so this is a comparison of design, not presence. KnowBe4 offers optional badges, a game module, and two configurable leaderboards, one for training completion and one for phishing reporting. Kinds gives every learner a single Aware Score covering both, plus an org-wide leaderboard that needs zero configuration, ranks a rolling 90-day window, and updates in real time. The difference is placement. KnowBe4's gamification is a layer an admin switches on. Kinds' is built in and on by default.

Does KnowBe4 have gamification?

Yes, and it is well built. KnowBe4's Learner Experience includes optional badges, earned for milestones like completing multiple trainings within 24 hours or reporting 100 simulated phishing emails. There is also a game-show-style module, The Inside Man: New Recruits Game. Points center heavily on reporting phishing through the Phish Alert Button.

Note what the point economy rewards: reporting simulated phish and completing assigned training. Those are good behaviors to reinforce. The learning content itself, mostly videos and quizzes, sits outside the game. The game wraps around the training rather than living inside it.

Does KnowBe4 have a leaderboard?

Yes, two types. A group leaderboard ranks teams by training completion. An individual leaderboard ranks people by Phish Alert Button reporting. Admins pick 3 to 25 groups, set the time period, and can exclude campaigns that have no due date. Both are optional and admin-configured.

The individual scoring is precise. A reaction bonus starts at 8,640 points and decays by one thirtieth of a point per second until the user reports the simulated phish, so faster reporters score higher. To keep things motivating, a user sees only the 50 ranks directly above and below them. Point totals can take up to 24 hours to update. This is a genuinely thoughtful design, and teams that run on leaderboards will find it complete.

How does Kinds Security approach gamification?

Every learner in Kinds has one number: the Aware Score, a 0 to 100 score with a school-style letter grade and a plain-English risk label, from Secure down to Critical. Completed workshops and phishing outcomes feed the same score, so there is no separate training number and phishing number to reconcile.

The score moves the moment something happens. Finish a workshop or handle a simulated phish well, by resisting it, reporting it, or recovering from it, and you earn full points. Get phished and you earn nothing. The score can also fall: a nightly pass counts past-due assignments against it, so skipped training is not free, and the number reflects actual risk rather than pure accumulation. Learners see points as earned out of possible instead of an unbounded total, which makes the score read as "how covered am I," not "who has been here longest." The score badge is pinned throughout the app, in the sidebar on desktop and the top bar on mobile, so the gamification is ambient rather than a page you visit. Underneath it, the workshops themselves are interactive, branching sessions, so the game layer reinforces engagement instead of creating it.

Does Kinds Security have a leaderboard?

Yes, and it is on for everyone from day one. The leaderboard ranks the whole organization by points earned over a rolling 90-day window, updates in real time, and requires zero admin configuration. No groups to pick, no time periods to set, nothing to switch on.

The 90-day window is deliberate. Ranking recent behavior instead of lifetime totals means new hires are not permanently buried under long-tenured colleagues, and standings stay contestable all year. Each learner also gets a rank-up card suggesting up to three specific incomplete workshops they can finish to climb, so the leaderboard shows how to move up, not just where you sit. The trade-off is control: KnowBe4 lets an admin decide exactly which groups compete and over what period. Kinds decides for you.

Alongside the leaderboard sits a company-wide awards feed that celebrates workshop completions and good phishing outcomes like reporting and resisting. Getting phished never appears in it. Public celebration, private failure. Nobody gets shamed in front of the company.

How does gamification compare?

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Bottom line

Buy KnowBe4 for gamification with confidence. Badges, the New Recruits game, and both leaderboard types are mature, and the platform's 4.6 out of 5 on Gartner Peer Insights across 2,469 reviews reflects real satisfaction. The real difference is what gets gamified. KnowBe4 gamifies activity around the training: report phish, finish modules, earn points. Kinds gamifies the learner's actual risk posture: one score the learner and the security team read the same way. If that is the number you want people competing on, try Kinds free for 21 days, no demo call needed.

FAQ

Is KnowBe4's gamification on by default? No. Badges and leaderboards are optional features that admins enable and configure.

What is the Kinds Aware Score? A 0 to 100 score with a letter grade and a risk label: Secure, Low Risk, Risky, Vulnerable, or Critical. Training and phishing outcomes feed the same score, and it updates the moment either happens.

Does Kinds Security have a leaderboard? Yes. An org-wide leaderboard ranked by points earned over the last 90 days, on by default, updated in real time.

Does getting phished show up publicly in Kinds? No. The awards feed celebrates completions and good outcomes only. Nobody's failures are broadcast to the company.

What earns points in KnowBe4? Mostly reporting simulated phishing through the Phish Alert Button, plus training completion for the group leaderboard.